Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Are Long Stretches of 70 Degree Highs in June Unusual?

Its the middle of June and Spring is here...after a week of heat and humidity...after three days in the 90s...now a decent stretch of temps in the 70s when the highs should be rising. A flip-flop to what typically happens this time of year. Is this drop into the 70s all that unusual?

This first graph shows the years with 5 straight days with temps in the 70s. The longer the stretch, the longer the "blue line"

8 of the last 13 years we had at least one stretch of 5 straight days with temps in the 70s after June 12th.

The red bars are the consecutive days above 80 degrees that followed each 70 degree stretch.

Notice in 2008 and 2004, we had a second stretch of 70 degree days. How about in 2003? A stretch that lasted 10 days!

The year 2000 and 2007 were the only years where 70 degree stretches were under 3 days.

The bottom line is that it is perfectly normal to have long stretches of temps in the 70s in mid to late June. Coming off of a La Nina spring (now neutral) with global temps still cooler than this time last year coupled with soil moisture in the middle of the country well-above normal, the chances of having long stretches of 85 to 90 degree heat here in northeastern Ohio heading into July and August seem very small.